This compulsory introduction was held in one of the lecture theaters on Friday. Lecture theaters are huge, with three big screens for the three sections of seats simultaneously. There are a minimum of 26 lecture theaters (26 is in front of the Business School).
I have learned interesting things about NTU: There are 33,000 students, of whom 8,500 are graduate students. 19% of undergrads and 64% of grad students are international. There are 6,200 staff of whom only one third is local...
I have also learned interesting things about Singapore: Singapore has been founded in 1819 and gained its independence in 1965. Population is 5.4 million, of which 3.8 million are residents. There are
four official languages: English, Chinese (Mandarin), Tamil, and Malay
(and signs are written in 4 languages, two of which uses the Latin abc). Last year there were 50 million passengers at Changi Airport. There are 14,000 multinational corporations (MNCs) in Singapore. Singapore is first in the league table of doing business, and of migration destination, it has the 2nd most competitive economy after Switzerland, it is 2nd in PISA results after Shanghai, and 5th in being the least corrupt (which is apparently a drop, they used to be tied with New Zealand and Denmark in 1st place), and it has the 2nd busiest port. Singapore has a strong commitment of investment into research and innovation (NTU is an essential vehicle in this), universities are granted autonomy. Singapore is a cultural enclave and a favored tourist destination as "light Asia": It has Little India, Chinatown, Sentosa Island (with friendly wild boars (vaddiszno), Botanical Gardens (with pretty harmless iguanas), world famous zoo, and 17,000 eating/drinking establishments from a lot of different cuisines and with prices from S$2 to 200. One type of cuisine I haven't heard about so far is Peranakan - I'll have to try. And now I know that the most famous Singapore food is chicken rice - I'll let you know what it is like when I try it.
Then we were introduced to the doctor at Fullerton Medical Center (the doctor's office at NTU) and healthcare in Singapore. International students are insured for healthcare. If we are sick during office hours, we are supposed to go to Fullerton, in the evenings and weekends to a Neighborhood General Practitioner. Visiting the NTU Medical Centre is free of charge, a visit to a GP clinic costs S$15-25, one to a Government Polyclinic $35, while at a Hospital Emergency department S$100. In case of an emergency, we should go to Government and Restructured Hospitals, rather than private hospitals, because in case of, e.g., an appendectomy and a 3 day stay, in a G&R Hospital the cost is around S$3,000-4000, while in a private one it can get up to S$12,000. But our insurance covers hospital stays up to S$500,000 if we go to G&R Hospitals (& we have a referral from the NTU Medical Center or the Hospital's emergency department). With a Letter of Guarantee from the insurer, we do not need to pay a deposit for a hospital stay. In addition, anybody not being present in school when they are supposed to, have to have a Medical Certificate to give to the school. Then we learned about common illnesses of international students in Singapore. The flu (including H1N5), gastritis (the lining of the stomach becomes inflamed and irritated), gastroenteritis (or food poisoning, causes infectious diarrhea, due to ingestion of food or water contaminated by
bacteria or viruses, because our own bacteria are different from those in Singapore), chicken pox (!), skin conditions (because of heat, humidity, and sweating, skin conditions are more common in the tropics), rabies (it has been eradicated in Singapore, but in case of visits to neighboring countries...), dengue fever (it does happen even in Singapore, although they try their best by getting rid of mosquitoes), malaria (again co cases in Singapore, but in case of visits to neighboring countries pills need to be taken about two weeks in advance).
Then we were briefed by the Chief Security Officer of NTU. Just so that you know, safety means being free from accidents, and the most important thing to be safe is "me" :). We have learned that the emergency number in the US is 911, in China 119 (because they do everything the other way around), and in Singapore it is either 995 (Fire Engines and Ambulances) or 999 for the police. But in NTU we should always call campus security, they can direct help services to the appropriate building (of the 120 or so buildings of NTU). We have to be careful when we cross the roads. Seriously! Although the speed limit on campus is 40 kph, because there are no traffic lights (not a single one!), and there are nice hills and bumps, NTU is used as "racing grounds" by millionaires testing their Maseratis. And just for our information, vandalism carries a sentence of 3 years in jail, a fine of up to S$2,000, and 3 to 8 strokes. (No, it is not funny!) But you'll be relieved to hear, now that I think about it, I haven't seen any vandalism anywhere in Singapore.
Then we were introduced to the online resources of the university. The edventure system (that is equivalent of ELEUM at UM), to turnitin (= Safeassignment at UM), to clickers, which is an actual credit card sized device to provide lecturers with instant feedback or test capabilities (they need to be tuned into the channel of the respective lecture theater).
Then a student counselor from the Student Wellbeing Centre talked about adjustment issues, coping mechanisms and resources.
Then undergraduate registration (taking and dropping classes, waiting lists etc.) was explained at length with copious illustrations by a representative of the Office of Academic Services.
And finally a police officer, an inspector, from the Singapore Police Force, Nanyang Police Center, Jurong Police Division (it is actually next door to where I live!) talked about crime prevention and sentences for common crimes. Simple theft (of laptops, purses, etc) up to 3 years in prison or a fine or both. House breaking, without theft, 2 years or fine or both. Robbery, 2-10 years and 6 strokes. Outrage of modesty (threatening women, extortion with private pictures, etc.) and sorry I forgot to pay attention to the punishment :). Then he showed us some case reports of all of the above from the last year from NTU. That was a little scary: Singapore should be safe, and NTU should be even safer...
It all started at 10 and lasted until about 12.30, so we were treated to lunch. I didn't stay because I had to rush, but it was all very interesting!
